It will be up to voters to decide whether to establish a Denton County Emergency Services District No. 2 this November after county commissioners unanimously approved putting the item on the ballot Tuesday.
If created, ESD No. 2 would not provide fire services — it would only provide emergency medical services, which is allowed under Texas’ Health and Safety Code.
The proposed boundaries include Argyle, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Corral City, much of Northlake, part of the Lantana area, and some of Denton’s and Double Oak’s extraterritorial jurisdictions.
Emergency medical services, specifically, are used to respond to an individual’s need for immediate medical care and to prevent death or aggravation of physiological or psychological illness or injury, according to the Health and Safety code.
The proposed district would overlap with the boundaries covering Denton County Emergency Services District No. 1, which provides fire services and emergency medical services .
“The fire commissioners are obviously very much in support of this and see this as an absolute necessity if we are to maintain the current levels of service moving forward,” Sheldon Gilbert, board president of ESD No. 1, told county commissioners Tuesday.
Ricky Vaughan, fire chief of Emergency Services District No. 1, told the commissioners it was a three-month process of reaching out to community members who live in the jurisdiction.
A petition to support the creation of the proposed emergency services district received 465 signatures, qualifying it to be added to the November election ballot, according to a Denton County election administration agenda memo.
Argyle, Denton, Bartonville, Copper Canyon, Corral City and Northlake all passed resolutions acknowledging and consenting to the creation of the emergency services district.
“I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in a very short time,” Vaughan said. “I’m truly amazed by the community support we got.”
Latest ESD No. 2 proposal differs from the version commissioners rejected
Denton County commissioners voted against creating the new emergency services district during their June 27 meeting.
That proposal for the district included the boundaries of Ponder and Dish, as well as a portion of Northlake’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
At the time, supporters of the proposed district told commissioners to put the item on the November ballot and let the voters decide.
At the time, county commissioners were to decide whether to allow the item to the November ballot that day, which included fixing or adding district boundaries.
However, commissioners opposed a motion putting the item on the ballot because they felt boundary and financial revisions were needed.
Election Day is Nov. 7.